GM sues Avanti Motor Corp. over "Hummer H2 knock-off" vehicle

By
Autoweek

Feb 20, 2003

General Motors is suing independent Georgia automaker Avanti Motor Corp., calling a new truck the small company recently unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show an infringement on one of the world's largest automaker's company trademarks.

Avanti, which builds a small volume of cars in the United States that mirror the legendary Studebaker Avantis built in the 60s, unveiled its massive Studebaker XUV at Chicago, saying it hopes to sell 150 vehicles during the first year of production and expand that number to 1,000 units annually in the future. Avanti’s new vehicle borrows its name from the once-influential automaker that produced Studebaker vehicles through the 1960s, but the massive sport-utility vehicle looks more like a Hummer military vehicle than most of the sedans and coupes Studebaker was known for. The vehicle, according to Avanti marketing material, shares design cues found on the 1963 Studebaker Wagonaire.General Motors, which owns Hummer, says the Studebaker XUV looks too much like Hummer’s H2 vehicle, the smaller of Hummer’s two offerings. It has consequently filed a federal trademark-infringement lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in Detroit against Avanti, calling the Studebaker XUV a Hummer “knockoff.” GM’s lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction prohibiting Avanti from making or selling the Studebaker.

“It is clear that Avanti Motor Corporation is attempting to profit from and capitalize upon the enormous popularity and goodwill that GM has developed in the wildly successful H2,” GM trademark lawyer Charles Ellerbrook said in a prepared statement. The lawsuit, filed Feb. 14, alleges that Avanti officials and media reports refer to the Studebaker XUV as a “boxy, Hummer-like vehicle.”

Avanti Chairman Michael Kelly responded to the lawsuit Feb. 17 saying, "There will not be any confusion on the part of the car-buying public. Put both vehicles side by side, and there's no question that the Studebaker XUV is distinctly different." He said the company plans to continue its plans to proceed with production plans.

Front view of the Studebaker XUV.

An Avanti-issued statement issued Monday further outlined the company’s position as follows: “Avanti believes that this frivolous lawsuit was presented to the small manufacturer by General Motors in order for GM to create a monopoly on the market of boxy, utility-type vehicles, thus preventing Studebaker, Ford, or even Chrysler from producing this type of vehicle in the future.”

In November, General Motors ended a similar trademark legal battle levied upon it by DaimlerChrysler in 2001. DaimlerChrysler accused GM of stealing Jeep’s seven-slot grille design and applying it the H2, which went on sale in 2002. DaimlerChrysler sought an mandate prohibiting GM from selling the H2, but GM won the case and subsequent appeals due to a lack of evidence and a tardy filing on DaimlerChrysler’s part.

As for Avanti, Kelly’s argument essentially mirrors GM’s in the DaimlerChrysler case, saying the company had no affiliation with General Motors nor interest in imitating Hummer subsidiary in developing the Studebaker project. The company’s marketing materials and statements following the lawsuit point out a number of differences between the two vehicles, including he fact that the $75,000 Studebaker costs $25,000 more than the H2, is powered by a Ford engine and built on a Ford truck platform, has a 12-inch longer wheelbase, two more inches of ground clearance and can tow nearly twice the weight that the H2 is capable of towing. The Studebaker also carries signature features such as an optional diesel engine, custom paint colors, rear sliding doors and a retractable window in the rear.

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